Chandrasekhar Balagopal (Bala) is a brilliant man. Apart from
outstanding academic achievements at school and university, Bala was
selected for the IAS in 1977 and was allotted the Manipur cadre. He left
the service in 1983 to become a very successful entrepreneur in Kerala.
Thirty years later, having hung up his boots, Bala has taken to writing
and his first, very impressive offering is his diary of recollections
and anecdotes from his time in Manipur as a twenty something ,
wonderfully titled On A Clear Day You Can See India (HarperCollins,
2013). I was naturally very keen to read this book and I am glad that I
have.

The very first chapter explains the title when, as a mere
probationer in Tamenglong in the West District of Manipur, his Deputy
Commissioner (DC) takes him to a vantage point in the district and
pointing with his walking stick, says, "East is in that
direction...Ukhrul and Burma....To the north lie Nagaland and
Assam....To the south lies Central District, then South District, and
then Burma....and there, to the west, my young friend, on a clear day,
you can see India". For any young person at the time, living in a remote
and inaccessible part of the country thousands of miles from home, many
wistful glances would have been made westwards, towards home and the
more familiar parts of India.

That Bala liked and admired his
first DC, "RN", is very apparent from his narrative. He begins with the
DC suspending the Block Development Officer (BDO) who had drawn funds,
and provided fictitious accounts, towards the cultivation of a pineapple
plantation that clearly did not exist. Later, he is witness to a
conversation that the DC has with the Chief Secretary of the state who
wants prohibitory orders under section 144 to be imposed and a dusk to
dawn curfew be declared over some incident. The DC does not believe that
the situation warrants it and lets the superior officer know. On the
latter's insistence, the DC refuses to comply, pointing out that any
attempt to interfere with his work in his capacity as the District
Magistrate would amount to contempt of court. Later the DC tells the
young officer, "Of course there will be consequences. I will probably be
transferred". However, "in a place like Manipur, one has every reason
to be honest and correct. You are anyway thousands of miles from home.
If you are transferred, you are only going to be a few miles further
from home....So, what the hell?"

The young and idealistic Bala had learnt an important lesson.
Always stand up for what is correct, the right thing to do. He does just
that in a later chapter when he rejects a list of beneficiaries for a
government scheme drawn up by a Minister's half-brother for a correct,
properly drawn up list, only to be transferred the very next day!
Another time, when he was supervising the imposition of a curfew, a
senior officer directed him to issue curfew passes to a local bigwig who
wanted to host a party to which he had invited people from Kolkota and
Guwahati! Bala refused and on being threatened that important people
would not be happy at this development, asked the person to leave
telling us, "Something in me snapped at this, and images of the previous
night rolled past my eyes--of young men being beaten for violating
curfew, suspected insurgents and security forces locked in a deadly
cat-and-mouse game, people on both sides of the law doing their chosen
jobs with commitment and fear and heroism and desperation. And here was
this smug fellow, grinning and worrying about his party."

There
are other incidents and events, from the normal to the extraordinary,
that Bala talks about. Being visited by Peter, "SDO, Ukhrul" on his
first day in office, when Bala was in fact the SDO there, and seeing the
latter's surprised reaction, the assurance, "I am with the
Revolutionary Government of Manipur" (Bala's description of his feelings
and reaction at being visited by a member of the underground is worth
reading); the wisdom of an elderly head constable who let the chilly
winds of the season disperse a large group of protesters that was
picketing the Raj Bhavan, while he, the man in-charge, was fretting over
the possible use of force; the visits to the only real book shop in
Imphal; evenings spent with the two Malayalis in town, the catholic and
protestant priests, and their good natured banter; the conduct of
elections from the point of view of a young officer; tea with the
distinguished L P Singh, then Governor of Manipur (and most of the north
east) and so much more.

Bala is a wonderful storyteller. He has
an easy style and all the chapters of his book are truly entertaining,
full of wit and humour on the one hand while being sensitive and
poignant on the other. He talks about a little known but troubled part
of India through the eyes of a young man on a quest to do something for
his country. While he stays true to each incident he describes and has
chosen them for their "entertainment value", the political and social
issues, conflict and strife and the colonial character of the
administration are never far away. This book is a must read for all
civil service aspirants, and indeed most young people on the threshold
of a professional life. It will find pride of place in my library.